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Power Amps, An Overdue Addicts Guide


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Guest Muon

The Perreaux Silhouette SX60m seems to be an old product, is this correct?

 

Nothing on their site about the Silhouette range...

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Guest Muon

As for the Rotel RB1070, the dealers listed by the Aussie distributor don't seem to carry this model.

 

http://www.internationaldynamics.com.au/brands/rotel/dealers/qld

 

Edit: Has the RB-15xx series superseded them? that's how it looks...

 

The reviews are still very useful, as many here purchase largely on the secondhand market.

Edited by datafone
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You've got me there datafone, all three of those amps are no longer available new.  The Burson came off the market last year, the rotel a year before that (I think) and the Perreaux I'm not sure when but probably some time in between the Audiant 80i and the Audiant pre coming out.  I was only certain it was discontinued a few weeks ago when Perreaux didn't list them on their new Australian site. 

I'm just going through what I have on hand at the moment so there will be a few more older amps to follow, the only amps I can guarantee are still available new are the Redgum amps and the new Burson Timekeeper (so new it's still a few weeks away).

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Guest Muon

Maybe the RRP can be found in the most recent web reviews, but sometimes they can be inaccurate.

 

All I can think of.

 

Anyway, keep up the good work mate :thumb:

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  • 1 month later...

Maybe the RRP can be found in the most recent web reviews, but sometimes they can be inaccurate.

 

All I can think of.

 

Anyway, keep up the good work mate :thumb:

 

 

I'll add in the RRP whenever I can in the future, but anyone taking note should remember that they can vary quite a bit from time to time and country to country.  The monoblocks next up are AJ's Hypex NCores so I don't really have a price for them as such (could you help there AJ?). 

After that will come the Exposure Classic 28 (or "Dual Mono Power Amplifier XXVIII" if you like that level of specificity), it is also a run out model, which seems to have retailed for about $4200 AU when new but can be grabbed for under $1700 right now, if you are lucky. 

 

Both the NCores and the Exposure are excellent sounding pieces of gear, (the Exposure is so good it has already been added to my "never going to let it go" list, a list that until this week only contained the Myryad Z142 (in the amp section anyway))   I'll get to some of the specifics on those shortly.

 

 

 

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Yeah, It's really only useful for a product still on the market, and then as you point out, the street prices can be all over.

 

Edit: Maybe useful to some degree in gauging second hand pricing.

 

You do a great job with these reviews, mate. IMO The most important thing is how they perform :)

Edited by datafone
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I've just written up the review on the Burson gear, I'll cut from the thread I started for the Burson Conductor/Timekeeper system and paste in here.

 

 

Well, I'm a week late but I've finally got a few hours to spare so here comes the Burson write up.

Using Aurealis ICs, LBP's Taranui speaker cables, my standard old Consonance cd120 and Mikes S2R speakers.  While I don't dislike the DAC stage of the Conductor as such I find it to be a bit too soft and not as dynamic (or edgy, and to work for me a DAC has to have just the right amount of edge!) as the DAC built in to the cd120 so I have used the Conductor as a preamp only.

I can see the Conductors DAC stage working a treat on bright speakers, but my system just doesn't need any softening.

 

Highs:  Trumpets are very nice, plenty of 'prap' with just a tiny amount of 'parp', triangles are up in the space near the roof with just the right amount of twinkly and sparkle, and those cymbals are just excellent.  I've heard on many amps now the intake of breath just before the singer starts to sing but it is just so clear on the Bursons that it warrants mention, short, sharp and (without trying to be funny) breathy.  Piano is also an absolute delight with initial impact, hang time and decay all readily audible and duly appreciated.  8.0

 

Mids:  The space between the highs and the Bass is tall and wide and yet filled with detail and poignancy.  Very honest, very clear, and very expansive, to the point where it feels as if there is so much mid range space available that it would take an infinite orchestra to fill it.  All instruments are given space to roam, especially those with strings.  8.0

 

Bass:  Nicely full, good bass depth and weight with excellent control but is likely to sound a bit lean when compared to many amps.  The Bursons value accuracy, control and detail over emphasis.  So well controlled that it does not impinge on the highs or mids no matter what is happening down in the bass region at the time.  Too good for a 7.5 but not quite an 8.0 so I'm splitting hairs and awarding a 7.75.

 

Vocals:   F 6.5  M 7.5  It is hard to describe this one, female vocals come across very well but they don't quite resonate with the listener as well as they could.  And, for some reason, the Bursons just love the male vocals more.

 

2D soundstaging was excellent but the 3D still sounded a little strange.  I'm slowly getting used to the new room but things keep changing in the background (and the room is only 85% done) so I'm still leaving these two parameters out.  It shouldn't be too long before I've got a handle on them though.

 

Overall Performance Integration:

Excellent!  Overall minor remnants of the crisp, clear and airy (with extra snap) personality of the 160 series but less obvious to the ear and so much more dynamic and with a much fuller sound.  Very clean, very clear.  The detail that is available in the treble region even though the bass is active at the same time is very impressive.  If I were to try to some up the Timekeeper/Conductor sound I would call it open and airy (but with slightly quieter, more softly spoken, air than that used in the 160 series), dynamic and yet faithfully neutral at the same time.   8.5  (The sum of its parts are actually slightly better than several of those parts when heard individually).

 

Ability to Emote:

Extremely high, but subtly so, it doesn't grab you right away but slowly and softly draws you in.  I lost myself to the music more than 5 times on my main test disc alone!   8.5

 

Electric Guitar Test:

The second best I have heard!  Joe Satriani would be proud!  8.5

 

80's Rock Test:

Exactly as I remember it, actually.... probably better.  And by better I mean, even more rock-ish and 80's like than it was back in the 80's.  9.0

 

Personality Summary:

Neither forward nor recessed, everything is just politely but firmly placed within the very tall and expansively wide sound stage and told to be carefully distinct in their performance and accuracy and not to move more than a step out of place.  Strong vocals are nice and tight in their placement but softer vocals have this tendency to wander a little that is actually a nice change.  They don't go very far but it is just enough to grab your attention and make you wonder if that was meant to happen or not, either way it keeps you listening.

 

I've been a little slack on adding these things up recently so, add everything up and then expand it by the average of all those numbers twice to make up for the lack of the two soundstage numbers and I've got..., let's call it 80 firm shall we.

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  • 2 months later...

OK, I've been slack, two months and no reviews, but I have been busy and here's where I get into what I've been up to and why.

 

First up the amp GTG down at Mikes was a ton of fun, even though it took up a lot of time and cost a bit in fuel and accommodation I'd sure do it again (when was that DAC GTG again Bill?).

 

I've got Bills Arion S250 to play with too but while I was working towards that evaluation/review I got a bit side tracked.  I bought this Halcro DM38 from Brodricj a few years back (in the good old days, back when I had both employment and income!) and every now and then I go back to it.  Now I have always appreciated the abilities of the DM38 but I have found it hard to love, it has this accuracy and precision that is just spot on but it is pretty much devoid of emotion.  I have heard several people now describe the sound of a Halcro as reminding them of the feeling they get just after they have brushed their teeth, which I take to mean fresh and clean but without any sweetness to the presentation.  And every time I have gone back to the Halcro I have been reminded of that, and after a few days, maybe a week, I get a bit bored of the cyborg-ish presentation and I move on to something else. 

Now I will admit I have tried to sell it once or twice but I didn't try very hard and so it is still with me, and now I am finally starting to make some real progress on giving the "Tin man" a soul.

I tried the Burson Conductor as a DAC/pre combination and that seemed to help a little, swapped around cables until I decided that the Aurealis were the best match (though not by much) and then, on a whim I swapped out my Ribbontek speaker cables for Redgum cables and this seemed to help a little too, though I'm a little foggy on exactly how.  My current explanation is that the Redgum cables are just a bit less accurate than the Ribbontek and the Halcro being already too accurate (in my opinion of course) it needed a little bit of inaccurate fuzziness to breath some life into it.  The actual noticeable difference here was very close to bugger-all but I'm used to taking baby steps with the Halcro and baby steps are better than no steps at all. 

 

So now I've got a very clear and accurate amp that is just a bit more likeable than it used to be.

Then I remember that I've got a spare fuse I ordered from HiFi tuning specifically for the DM38, I tried it out once before and didn't like it much, but since then many things have changed, new speakers, new room, new preamp, time to give it a second try.  So out came the standard fuse and in went the $50 replacement.  This time the change was noticeable, easily noticeable but in a sort of a subtle way.  The music gained a richer, smoother quality, and a much bigger change than all the others put together, at least 4 baby steps!  But still missing something, still a bit bland, as if the amp just isn't taking its job seriously, like it's just coasting along until payday.  Changing DACs from the Conductor back to the Consonance cd120 didn't do much, so I plugged in the Redgum cd5 to use as a DAC, keeping the Consonance as a transport and the Conductor as the pre.  Now we are talking turkey!  The extra dynamics of the Redgum seem to be forcing the amp to push itself in order to keep up, we're talking a dozen baby steps here, maybe more.

 

Now I've got a system that uses the Halcro DM38 and is actually very nice to listen to.  It has this accuracy and precision to the mids and the treble and while it can be a little light on the sweeter harmonies (melodic female vocals for instance) it still lets some of that "breathiness" through.  The soundstage is not particularly high or deep but it is so spot on precise that I can now hear instruments and effects moving around within it with pinpoint accuracy.  Just earlier this evening I was listening to a song I've heard a couple dozen times and I can now hear several effects that start out at one speaker, travel into the middle of the speakers and then return to the same speaker, previously I could only hear them coming from that speaker.  That same track has an overlay of the lyrics whispered and out of sync with the main vocals, and the whispering does exactly the same thing, traveling from a speaker into the middle and back to that same speaker, and where as previously I could hear the whispering I can now distinctly hear the words.  Well done Halcro (and friends, of course)!

 

The Halcro has always had the ability to allow its music to cut directly through the walls of my lounge, other amps get damped down by the two layers of steel sheet and the 75mm of Styrofoam in between but not the Halcro, you can still hear it clear as day if you walk outside and close the door (OK, to be fair it does seem to lose a db or two but not the 4 or 5 of other amps).  It has kept this ability, with the added bonus that the new richer sound and smoother bass is also granted the same privilege.  So it really is a good thing that I live on 40 acres here in Bowen, if I moved back to Townsville I'd quickly become 'known' in my street, if not my entire suburb.

 

It has been a long road with the Halcro, but now I'm pretty happy with it.  Happy enough to banish the thought of selling it for a while anyway.  I always thought it was a bit of a dud, one of those experiences that cost you a lot of dough and taught you a valuable lesson but still left you feeling like the lesson shouldn't have cost you quite as much as it did.  I'm not sure I'll ever manage a combination that can make the Halcro sound like it is worth its new RRP of $30K plus, but at least I've got it sounding good enough that I'm happy to have spent what I did on it at the time. 

 

And that is what audio is all about isn't it?  Value for money?

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I suppose it was only a matter of time, you have two amps sitting next to each other for long enough and a comparison just pushes into the forefront of your lack of plans for a Monday morning.

I've been enjoying the Halcro (as mentioned above) for more than a fortnight now, so what is the first thing I notice when I swap it out and slot in the Arion S250?  A lack of impact and speed!  Yep, I've gone from class A/B to class D and got a slower amp, not the first thing I would have expected.  The Arion is definitely smoother and easier to listen to, on Evanescence's third album (which seems to have lower production values than their first two) the Arion smooths out the sometimes hashy and throaty sounding drums and instruments while the Halcro slaps you around the head and forces you to notice that the third album was recorded on inferior gear (I'm not sure how many people will back me up on that opinion but that is certainly how things seem to sound).  

There is also the massive disparity in apparent power, the Arion has 250wpc and the Halcro 180wpc but if you didn't know that you would swear that the Halcro had three times the power of the Arion, it hits harder, it hits faster and it hits with more depth (admittedly, only slightly more) than the Arion.  Also, partly due to a much more forward presentation, the Halcro presents a much larger soundstage, the sounds can come from the speakers or anywhere from 5 feet in front of the speakers to 5 ft behind them.

When the Halcro punches out those drums on "What you want" the sound travels directly from the bass drivers to your ear drums, it arrives so fast you would swear it does not travel through any unnecessary air molecules in between.  By comparison the Arion sounds more like Dire Straits performing a cover of the same song.  It's almost as if the Arion sits right in the middle of the speakers comfort zone and the Halcro lives ten miles outside it, the Halcro makes them work, hard!

 

Now I'm not trying to hack on the Arion, it is a very nice sounding amp and it definitely presents Amy Lee's vocals in a more pleasing manner (quite a bit more pleasing actually, the Halcro is not a great vocaliser) than the Halcro does but when it comes to the instrumentals the Arion just does not compete.

 

Need more albums, many more albums, let the evaluations continue!

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It's interesting Cafad what you say about the Arion S-250 being slower than the Halcro.  I've not heard the Halcro but I have spent quite a bit of time with the very S-250 that you have right there and it has made some amps seem slow and a little congested by comparison, but I have found an amp or two that I would rate as being faster than the Arion S-250, most noticeably the Spectron Musican III and Arion HS-500's, both Class D.  One thing that I noticed about the S-250 was a bit of congestion in the upper mids that comes across as a slight fuzziness or lack of resolve or clarity around in particular some male voices and the lower and mid registers of some electric guitar, and as a result for the many weeks that I used this amp I listened to considerably less rock music than I normally would.  I also think that with a little less fuzz and more clarity in the upper mids the sound-staging would improve but all in all I think it is a very good amplifier.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

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I think evanescence albums have gone downhill since the first one. I am afraid that as our younger generation of sound engineers who were brought up on crap mp3s and ipods with garbage headphones wont know the definition of good sound quality anymore. The recordings in years to come will only suffer. To me a lot of the pop music these days has an excess off wub wub bass noise and I only wonder if it is deliberately being produced for an ipod generation with tiny headphones and 1inch toy speakers.

 

Regards  Simon

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It's interesting Cafad what you say about the Arion S-250 being slower than the Halcro.  I've not heard the Halcro but I have spent quite a bit of time with the very S-250 that you have right there and it has made some amps seem slow and a little congested by comparison, but I have found an amp or two that I would rate as being faster than the Arion S-250, most noticeably the Spectron Musican III and Arion HS-500's, both Class D.  One thing that I noticed about the S-250 was a bit of congestion in the upper mids that comes across as a slight fuzziness or lack of resolve or clarity around in particular some male voices and the lower and mid registers of some electric guitar, and as a result for the many weeks that I used this amp I listened to considerably less rock music than I normally would.  I also think that with a little less fuzz and more clarity in the upper mids the sound-staging would improve but all in all I think it is a very good amplifier.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

I probably didn't emphasize this enough, I believe the Arion to be a very good amp and my previous experiences with the Halcro were a bit disappointing so I was pretty amazed that it managed to trash the Arion so effectively.  It seems I've finally hit on the correct combo for the Halcro to shine.  It would also seem that the Conductor pre is not quite right for this comparo.  

I've just unboxed the Halcro DM8, and, bit of a news flash here, but I have just found that a $20K preamp actually does sound clearer than a $2K one.  I'm going to have to do everything again, the Arion's honor is at stake!  

 

Definitely no sleep for me tonight!   :D

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You know, using the DM8 in place of the Burson Conductor that 3rd Evanescence album sounds much less doughy in the background.  I'm also going to nominate the last song on it, Swimming Home, for a 'B-Side Award' (when the last song, usually thrown in as a space filler, turns out to be one of the best ones on the album).

 

post-130663-0-34691000-1387065480_thumb.

Here's a picture boys and girls.  That's the Arion you can see, lurking in the shadows behind the Halcros.  Also note the special "Acoustically Inert" bricks that I have been forced to use because the DM38 is just too damn tall!

 

The preamp swap improved the vocal performance of the DM38 but didn't seem to change the Arions' as such.

 

I've been intending to do some more serious comparing but I seem to have become a little lost in Halcro land, it's a nice place.  A good place to spend the summer I think.  With a little luck I'll be back in the Autumn.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Is it Autumn yet?

I lost track of time.

I've come to a conclusion regarding the Arion, and it is that I just don't like it!  Just can't find any love for it on the S2Rs.

 

Now let me spend the next 20 lines or so clarifying this, it isn’t that the Arion is a bad amp just that it is not suited to the S2R speakers, at all!

Back at our recent amp GTG I found the Burson Timekeepers to sound too steely (a bit brittle and very, very hard in the top end) and the Arion S250 to sound much more to my liking (more relaxed and open with just a touch of steel in its heart). 

 

Well the S2Rs must be more (so much more!) relaxed speakers than the ML2Limiteds because on the S2Rs the Burson Timekeepers are slightly steely (but in a pleasant way that sort of enhances the top end, IMO anyway, they are nice and tight and crisp) and the Arion S250 is so damn relaxed that it just isn’t funny.  There is no immediacy to the top end, it sounds rolled off, almost damp in fact!  And the bass doesn’t go that deep either, it almost sounds like it only goes as deep as mid bass and that just isn’t right.

I am prepared to speculate that it has something to do with box resonance, but that is about as far as my speculation can go.

 

I've tried the Arion in about 5 different set ups now and it doesn't seem to matter what cd spinner I use or what cables I plug in, it just does not excite.

 

In short I would suggest that if you have a pair of S2S then you should look at the Burson amps and if you have a pair of ML2s (or 3s or 1s) then you should definitely investigate the Arion possibilities.

 

For those of an academic bent I have distilled the experience down to a series of mathematical formulae:

Burson  Timekeeper + ML2 = steely hard top end (not necessarily a bad thing but I would expect that many people would dislike it)

Burson  Timekeeper + S2R =  crisp and airy top end (maybe a little hard on occasion, but only rarely)

 

Arion S250 + ML2 = nice tight bass and a clear and open top end (with only a hint of tightness that usually comes across as a sense of clarity)

Arion S250 + S2R = dull highs (clear but very underemphasised) and a sense of bass that is floating rather than going all the way down.

 

This experience has me thinking that the Arion S250 may just be a great amp to use on those ‘potential’ B&W 802Ds of Lucs.  I have discussed the matter with Bill and he has instructed me to combine the two at my earliest convenience.  Now who am I to argue with instructions like that?

Edited by Cafad
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This experience has me thinking that the Arion S250 may just be a great amp to use on those ‘potential’ B&W 802Ds of Lucs.  I have discussed the matter with Bill and he has instructed me to combine the two at my earliest convenience.  Now who am I to argue with instructions like that?

 

Hmmm...me thinks you might have to grow or more profitable crop in that paddock outside your door to realise said instructions...Rob

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Hmmm...me thinks you might have to grow or more profitable crop in that paddock outside your door to realise said instructions...Rob

Nah, no need for that Rob, I know a guy who knows a guy.... you know how these things work.

 

I've got the amp and he's got the speakers, and next week some time we shall see how they combine (and 3 other amps as well, can't go wasting an opportunity like that after all).

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  • 2 months later...

Well, due to crappy luck, and cyclones and such, the previously mentioned GTG has not occurred and Bill has requested his amp be returned so it seems unlikely that the Arion S250 will be able to meet up with the B&W 802Ds any time soon. 

 

However his request did provide me with a bit of a reminder that I still had the Arion on hand so I'm currently testing out the S250 with my ME25 pre.  The combo is actually pretty good but I still prefer the Timekeepers.  The Arion has a laid back feel to it, plenty of power but not much air in the top end and it seems to bottom out prematurely (possibly a side effect of it being too smooth for it's own good, it's so smooth it just can't seem to get down deep),  the Timekeepers give deeper bass than that when paired with the ME25.  

 

On Mikes ML2 Limited speakers it was a very obvious choice, I'd take the Arion over the Timekeepers without a second thought.  On those far-too-expensive-for-my-blood speakers the Timekeepers came across as far too hard and steely, almost harsh, whereas the Arion was smooth and expressive with just a faint touch of hard-ish steel every now and then (that's using Anthony's Phasure as a DAC/pre, I'd love to hear a comparo using the new PDX, but that'll just have to wait).  So on the ML2L's the Timekeepers were hard and the Arion was much smoother but on the S2Rs (which I would describe as a much smoother and warmer speaker) I'd take the Timekeepers over the Arion every time.  Makes perfect sense now that I've already done it and applying logic in hindsight, but I certainly didn't predict it from the beginning.

 

The sound of the Arion S250 actually reminds me of the sound of the Primare I22, another class D amp that sounds nothing like class D is "traditionally" meant to sound.

 

Just thought I'd throw in a last comment on the Arion before it wings it's way back home, I'm never going to be a fan of its personality on the S2Rs but having heard it on a couple of other sets of speakers I can say that it is certainly a capable piece of gear.

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I bought a MC20 Halcro and use a icon audio valve preamp, in my system it very transparent, an amazingly clean top end with the vocals being the most natural I have ever heard, good image and very musical, it is never hard and has no grain or glare, on first listen it also appears to lack dynamics until it is required, then it will just keep getting louder without any distortion, its dynamic range is excellent,  I suggest that all amplifier are coloured to various degrees with the Halcro being the least coloured amp I have heard, it shows the rest of your system for what it is, a valve front end works for me. I will never get rid of it, now  I will consider a DM38 and will listen to one of those soon.

Edited by vwo60
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I bought a MC20 Halcro and use a icon audio valve preamp, in my system it very transparent, an amazingly clean top end with the vocals being the most natural I have ever heard, good image and very musical, it is never hard and has no grain or glare, on first listen it also appears to lack dynamics until it is required, then it will just keep getting louder without any distortion, its dynamic range is excellent,  I suggest that all amplifier are coloured to various degrees with the Halcro being the least coloured amp I have heard, it shows the rest of your system for what it is, a valve front end works for me. I will never get rid of it, now  I will consider a DM38 and will listen to one of those soon.

 

What were you using prior to the MC20? Also, what is the output impedance of your ICON preamp?

 

Thanks

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I have had a krell ksa150, two different musical fidelity including a M6PRX, a set of VTL mono blocks from the past, the pre amp has a 100 ohms impedance, in comparison this is the lowest colouration I have heard in a amplifier and over the years I have owned and listened to many. I have also tried a passive preamp and a musical fidelity pre in my system as well. the Halcro cost me $2700, what a Bargain. 

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Wow ... that's pretty good competition to beat !!!

 

Just one more question ... would you say you can hear the emotion in the vocals and would you describe the sound as involving. In other words, I'm asking if the sound is, instead, more neutral and clinical?

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It is very musical and conveys the emotion very well, it is just not coloured, I read varies peoples opinion about the amp and in my opinion it shows other issues with the overall system make up .it goes very well with my valve icon audio pre. my speakers are the Aurum Cantus grand supreme and the tweeter is so clean with excellent detail , I think that it matches the amp very well. if you get a chance to hear one at home do so.

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